


Keeping Count

by SadisticSiren



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Constellation myths vaguely explained by yours truely, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Happy Ending, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, pinning lance, sentimental lance, well its implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 18:58:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12018990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SadisticSiren/pseuds/SadisticSiren
Summary: It's as he was getting ready for their  tenth date, that Lance glanced at his pen-covered calendar and offhandedly wondered why he was still counting their dates.Later, he gently shut the door behind him before sliding down against it, face buried in his hands because Keith shyly kissed him goodnight before leaving like theyhadn'thad their tongues down each others throats.It's then he reasons that he keeps track because he's curious if, after a certain point, his heart wontsqueezelike that when Keith kisses him. Or laughs. Orsmileseven.So far, no dice.________________________________Lance recounts his dates with keith.





	Keeping Count

 

On their first date, Lance took him to a movie Keith had been talking about wanting to see. They shared a bag of popcorn and while they waited for the movie to start Keith tried to throw popcorn into lances mouth. He caught six pieces.

He'd put his arm around Keith's shoulders as subtly as he could, and when Keith leaned comfortably his hold, the feeling in his chest was something akin to the thunderous explosion on the big screen.

 

 

Their second date hadn't gone at all according to plan. Lance had phoned him the morning of, vocal chords sounding and  _feeling_  like they'd been forced through a wood-chipper, apologizing profusely for needing to cancel, and asking for a rain-check on account of being really fucking sick.

Keith had told him not to worry about it before quickly hanging up, leaving Lance to worry a lot.

Keith was impatiently buzzing his apartment not even half an hour later, carrying plastic bags with four different kinds of soup  _(he didn't know what Lance would like!),_ tea and some medicine. Lance wrote off his flush on whatever flu bug he'd caught.

They fell asleep cuddled on Lance's couch watching  _Kubo and the Two Strings_ , and Lance deemed it one of his favorite dates, minus the feeling like shit part. 

Keith was sick less than a week later, and Lance happily returned the favor.

 

 

Lance took Keith out to dinner for their fourth date. He'd started tripping over his tongue the second Keith answered the door because Keith had tied his hair back and Lance still hadn't gotten around to telling Keith what exactly that  _does_  to him.

The food had been good, their shared dessert was better, and the shared kiss in the parking lot that led to a shared make out session  _also_  in the parking lot (that the poor valet wishes he hadn't seen) was Lance's favorite part.

Probably not the valet's favorite though.

 

 

They spent their sixth date at the beach, and Hunk and Pidge had tagged along. Shiro'd been busy, but not busy enough to forget to remind them several times to wear sunscreen. They brought their surfboards, beach towels and food. They weren't no beach amateurs.

Lance and Hunk eagerly hit the waves. Pidge and Keith did their best to not fall into the glittering water three seconds after standing up on a board. Keith went with Lance further out after Pidge gave up, and they ended up sitting side by side on the board and just enjoying talking and watching the water.

When they were walking back up the beach for dinner, a girl whom was passing them on her way to the water casually flirted with Lance. Keith promptly lifted their linked hands to show off, and icily apologized to her, because 'Lance had a  _boyfriend'._  Pidge took one look at Lance's cloud-nine grin and their interlocked grips and teased that they were gonna make her lose her appetite with how  _sickeningly cute_ they were being. Keith's response was to blush furiously and try to hide his face in Lances neck.

Lances grin only grew.

Pidge got sunburnt.

 

 

Their eighth date was a supposed to be a cozy movie night on Lance's apartment. They lasted maybe... fifteen minutes before they were all over each other. 

He found that Keith's shoulders and back were covered in a flurry of faint freckles, and when contrasted with the brilliant red of Keith's skin, Lance thought it ought to be classified as a natural wonder, like shooting stars or the northern lights or some shit. Keith had called him a fucking sap when he'd told him so, but Lance's point stands.

Lance also discovered that Keith's hair looked incredibly cute  ~~and kinda hot~~  after Lance's been tugging on and running his fingers through it. He swore to himself to do it more often.

Lance only found out about the giant ass hickie on the dead center of his neck the next day when Pidge pulled him aside to ask him if he was  _sure_ Keith wasn't a vampire because  _I know that was originally a joke but you look like you got mauled it's a little ridiculous wait no Lance come back it's not that noticeable really-_

Keith apologized, but smugly admitted he did not regret it. Lance just asked that he either make the marks lighter, or somewhere Lance could hide if needed because he did  _not_  want to explain what a hickie was to his nieces and nephews. 

 

 

It's as he was getting ready for their tenth date, that Lance glanced at his pen-covered calendar and offhandedly wondered why he was still counting their dates.

Later, he gently shut the door behind him before sliding down against it, face buried in his hands because Keith shyly kissed him goodnight before leaving like they  _hadn't_  had their tongues down each others throats.

It's then he reasons that he keeps track because he's curious if, after a certain point, his heart wont  _squeeze_  like that when Keith kisses him. Or laughs. Or _smiles_ even.

So far, no dice.

 

 

Their fifteenth date falls on Lance's birthday. The night before Keith kissed him dizzy and declared that Lance was gonna love it. 

They hung out with their friends all day, eating and ragging on each other. They had cake and there were gifts and Lance was having the time of his life. So he was a little confused when it came time for dinner they rode out just out of the city on Keith's bike, to a secluded little hill covered in grass and wildflowers.

Lance's eyes got misty at the cute display of a picnic dinner with one  _hell_  of a view. Keith admitted that he'd gotten hunk to help him with the food and Lance loved him all the more for it. The sun set over the city and Lance took at  _least_  four selfies with his boyfriend for his wallpaper, because; There's only one thing that could be better than the picture he had taken of Keith smiling off into nothing while leaning against his bike waiting to pick lance up. And  _that_  would be a picture of them both smiling at the camera in a photogenic place wrapped around each other.

When looked back at it the next day, he nearly combusted on the spot when he noticed Keith was smiling at him, not the camera.

Definitely wallpaper material.

Once the sun had set and the food packaging had been disposed of, Keith took out a thin blanket from who knows where, quietly asked lance if he remembered telling Keith he wanted to go stargazing, and if he still wanted to.  _Like that's even a question_ , lance had responded, already laying down on the sheet with an excited grin.

Lance made it a personal mission to point out constellations he knows, and ends up explaining some of the stories behind them. Ursa Major and Minor, the tale of Zeus whipping it out and getting a follower of Artemis and her son turned into bears by Hera. Andromeda, and her mother queen Cassiopeia who was apparently gunning to be the next Narcissus and getting their city attacked by a sea monster for it, and then chaining Andromeda to a rock as a sacrifice to pay back her fuck up. 

While he was explaining how Aquarius was named, he turned his head to ask Keith a question and cut himself off when he found fond purple eyes already trained on him, a warm smile gracing his lips. At this, Lance dramatically groaned and rolled onto his front (and into Keith's side), and hoped Keith couldn't hear how fast his heart was beating because it was  _really fucking fast like how is this boy even real-_

Keith laughed at his reaction, and Lance had smiled into the sheet. And when he felt Keith lay a kiss on the top of his head, he was grateful his face was buried in cloth to hide how red he could feel his face was.

 

 

Once Lance has kissed Keith goodnight while dropping him off at his doorstep like the damn gentleman his mamá raised him to be, he gets the Shovel Talk™ from Shiro at 11:35pm after their eighteenth date.  
  
He promised Shiro he was personally invited to knock Lance into a coma for all he cared if he ever hurt Keith. Shiro told him he appreciated the sentiment, but doubted he would ever need to. They both laughed when Shiro explained that Keith had said something similar, though far more graphic.

 

 

Date 21.... Lance always had thought of 21 as a lucky number.

The date  _started_ with their group of friends schedules finally lined up, and they ended up deciding to go to a club. It was fun, light drinking and catching up, watching a blushing and embarrassed Shiro collect just under his record of nine phone-numbers in a single night, and plenty of dancing.

It  _ended_  with Keith  _dragging_  Lance out the door after a rushed goodbye to the others, complaining that Lance's pants ought to be  _illegal_  and he  _needed them off_ _._

Lance had been ever so thankful to his forethought to stick to soda so they didn't have to wait for an Uber, and not twenty minutes later they were tumbling into lances apartment. Lance nearly hadn't remembered to get his keys out of the lock. Keith was not a person known for his patience, and it showed. The minute the door was shut Keith was pulling at Lance's shirt so viciously it was a miracle it didn't rip.

 _It'd have been hot if it had ripped_ , Keith told him later.  _But_ _a waste of a shirt,_ he had responded.

Lance is a person who really likes his sleep, naps and him were very well antiquated. However, sacrifices must be made and Keith's got a really sensitive spot on the back of his thighs and who is Lance to not take advantage of that?

Apparently, Keith  _had a thing_ for marking up Lance's throat and shoulders. The next day when Lance saw pretty purple spots covering Keith neck, he supposed he could understand the appeal.

 

 

 They spent Keith's birthday, also their 25th date, walking around a theme park, deafening screams from roller-coasters and shops and games and  _so much sugar and grease_. Keith had told him a few weeks before about never having been to anything more than those parking lot fairs, and Lance sought to rectify this.

Keith had just ducked away somewhere quieter to phone the others to meet up, when Lance spotted it. A decently sized squishy adorable shark plushy. It was a prize at one of those games that  _are technically_  possible to win but  _good fucking luck my guy_  games. Lance was still finding it in himself to  _not_ blow fifty bucks on a plushy, especially when this trip was for Keith when said boyfriend came back and followed his line of vision. Then Keith was pulling him towards the stand with a cocky smirk that was fucking _hot_ , slamming five dollars on the counter. 

First try. Keith beat the game on the first fucking try, and Lance was so fucking proud. And he told that to every person who asked about the large shark plushy for next four months.

However, Lance also wanted to give Keith something too. It was  _his birthday_ , and as much as Lance loved Quiznak The Shark, he wanted to do something more for Keith. He was considering asking Shiro for Ideas or hell, maybe a different kind of toy, when Keith's hand suddenly was pulling him faster, towards a shooting booth Covered in Giant Prizes. The booth operator gave Keith a sympathetic smile and wished him luck, and said no one had actually won anything at the booth because the guns didn't have a scope or light to tell where it was shooting. She pointed to the large target and told him what was worth what, and handed him the gun.  
  
Keith passed him the gun with a sly grin and Lance winked at him.

Lance lined up his shot. Deep breath in, and then slowly out. He fired.

They met back up with the others with an enormous hippo stuffy squished happily in Keith's arms.

 

 

By their 34th date Lance accepts that Keith's laugh has become his favorite sound, beating out the long time champion of his hermano's scream when a goose came after him with a vengence.

 

 

Date 40 was a simple walk together, the cold biting and the streets decorated in lights. It was loud, people chatting and laughing while they shopped for gifts. Lance had been complaining for a while that he was freezing,  _I don't care if there's no snow Keith i wasn't built for these temperatures cuddle me_ , and though Keith had rolled his eyes Keith unzipped his coat and opened his arms. Lance didn't need to be told twice.  
Lance had wrapped his arms around Keith's back inside Keith's fluffy coat, blurting out  _god i love you._

Keith stiffened as Lance realized what he had said.  _Too soon?_  he asked, into Keith's hair.

Keith hesitated but shook his head, rubbing his forehead against Lance's chest and Lance inwardly died because his boyfriend is  _really cute okay?_  Although it hadn't been as inwardly as intended if Keith leaning out of the warm hug to glare at him was any indication. Keith called him insufferable, pecked him on the lips, and mumbled a  _me too_  before going back to hiding in Lance's shirt. _Unfair levels of cute at play, 911 I'm being murdered._

 

 

 

Sometime after their 56th date, Lance took the initiative to introduce Keith, or rather,  _reintroduce_ Keith to parents and siblings as  _Keith; Lance's boyfriend_ in place of  _Keith, a friend sometimes and major crush for like, ever._

Lance's nieces and nephews  _adored_  Keith and were in eternal awe of his motorbike. They took turns showing off their bikes, excitedly telling him stories that he'd most likely already heard from Lance.

 Keith had told him before he wasn't a huge fan of children, and though he did seemed a little overwhelmed but the sheer energy of the kids (Lance was sure they could power an entire building off of this natural source alone), he was clearly trying hard to get along and entertain them and  _god_ if it didn't make Lance's heart swell, because Lance's family is everything to him and Keith  _knew_ that, and he wanted to make a good impression.

Not that he needed to, with the way they'd looked at Lance when Lance had introduced him,  _Él es Keith. ¿Lo recuerdas? Sí, ahora es mi novio. Papá, no llores lo vas a asustar._

His mamá had pulled Keith aside the first chance she got, while Lance had helped his sister finish set up dinner. He doesn't know all of what she told him, but when he finally found them Keith was extremely flustered as his mamá was thanking Keith for making her baby happy. Lance intervened by looping his arms around Keith's shoulder and pecking him on the cheek, which to his delight made Keith turn even more red. His mamá then smugly told Keith to remember what she said before she left, and as persistent as Lance was Keith adamantly refused to spill what she'd said to make him so flustered.  
  
By the time they left that evening, if Lance hadn't been dating Keith he was 100% sure they'd have tried to adopt him.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
It's when Keith knocks on the door to pick him up for their 61st date, that Lance greets him with a shiny, newly cut key dangling in Keith's face.

Their 62nd date consists of Lance and Keith loading Keith's belongings into Lance's car to move to Lance's, now  _their_  apartment.

While they were moving shit around in their bedroom (Their bedroom! Theirs! Both of them!) Keith asked Lance about the calendar next to the bed. He doesn't get a proper answer, as Lance brushed it off and promptly disposed of it.

From that point on Lance kept the Date Record Calendar hidden away in the back of the closet.

 

 

Once they were living together they spent a lot of time there, so their dates became a little more spread out. Lance was grateful for this partially because it was kinder to his wallet. More importantly though, it gave him more room to write notes on the calendar.

 

 

Date seventy-seven was canceled on account of an argument. They bickered regularly, and had minor arguments once in a while, never lasting more than maybe an hour.

This wasn't like that.

 It was stupid and petty and  _inevitable_  on account of hidden insecurities and stress and a fear of emotions. They started off trying to get their points across but it devolved into a squabble of aggressively passive-aggressive comments and insults.

 Lance didn't remember what he said, he didn't remember much of what Keith said, he didn't even remember what the argument had been about to begin with. The part he remembered most was when Keith had said something that was below the belt so to speak, voice icy and sharp. Something like  _Can't you do something useful for once in your life_  or something equally fucking rude _._ Words Lance  _knew_  he didn't mean, knew they were a means to hurt and nothing more. And it did hurt. His stomach churned, eyes had started to sting and he just overall felt like he wanted to earth to swallow him whole.

 This, he only remembered because of the Keith's sharp inhale and the  _look of horror_   when the tears started falling down his cheeks. Keith froze, face pale as he shook his head disbelievingly, broken whispers of  _sorry_ and  _didn't mean it_  fell from his mouth as he stumbled backwards into the wall. Lance took a step towards him, which brought Keith out of whatever daze he was in only to  _scramble_ to the bedroom, slamming the door behind him. He'd knocked, shakily asked him to open the door. When Keith didn't respond, lance wiped at his eyes with his sleeves and slumped against the door. Dinner came and went, food was left outside the door, but it remained locked.

Lance went to bed on the couch, and woke up to Keith asleep on top of him. His eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, his hair was mess, and he was clinging to lance like a koala. He'd shook his shoulder gently to wake him, and Keith clung tighter as he slowly woke up. 

Sleepy emotional apologies at 5:45am were followed by a lazy morning make up make out, which is when date seventy-seven took place. Right then and there. Lance makes them pancakes and they watch cartoons on Netflix. Keith clung to him for the rest of the day.

 

  
  
Their 83rd date had been planned as nice normal dinner date. They didn't even last five minutes before Keith was pressing Lance up against their bedroom door because apparently Keith is weak to Lance legs and the pretty white skirt on Lances hips were just too much for him, the  _poor thing_.

 Lance made his weakness for Keith's hair being tied back known, making Keith pause when the tie fell off so he could put it back in because  _we all have our kinks Keith, and I have no shame_. Lance doesn't fix it the second time it falls out only so he can make good on his promise to mess up Keith's hair more often.

He also learns Keith is more than okay with Lance's hair-pulling, if the noise he made was any indication. Lance mentally added a footnote to the vow.

 

 

 

Their 88th date, their whole gang had met up at a bar to hang out again. Except this was a  _karaoke bar,_ and if you think that they didn't exploit that then you'd be very wrong.

Allura had made the entire bar simultaneously fall in love with her (not the hardest feat, lance admits, like have you  _seen_  Allura), with a beautiful rendition of  _Can't help falling in love with you_.  A few random strangers performances later Hunk, Pidge and Lance took over with an awe-inspiring  _Bohemian Rhapsod_ y.

They even got Coran up there, and his  _Cotton Eye Joe_  was something Lance hoped to never forget. Pidge had been on the  _floor_ clutching her gut, and Shiro _laughing_ was always welcome.

At some point Lance had ended up on stage by himself,  _Despicito's_  track coming from the speakers and Lance was not just singing. He was  _performing_. He danced along to the beat, be gestured in response to the words _,_ he threw himself into it because lance was  _made_  for the stage. The song ended with Lance sweaty, glowing, and grinning brightly as he bowed dramatically to the audience, who were cheering loudly. He stepped off stage and immediately was met with an armful of Keith.

Keith grumbled about how Lance was too fucking perfect,  _like seriously what the fuck are you your smile could melt ice caps but your hips could get charged as a murder weapon,_ in between kisses as he dragged lance back to their table and Lance just kinda melted on the spot? Like, how the fuck did he manage this? How did he bag this beautiful mullet'd being. He must have been hero in a past life or something, he swore.  
  
When he's adding to the calendar while Keith's in the bathroom that night, he considers that he may also keep the list because he's proud of the fact Keith is with him, and it's like a tally-board of how many times he'd gotten to say  _I've got a date with_ _Keith_  to prove something to his younger, crushing self. Or maybe it's just sentimental value. Sue him for trying to be a romantic. 

 

 

Lance gave Keith a gift he'd started on months before and was finally finished during their 115th date. Keith takes one look at the soft, hand sewn Lion onesie and burst into tears. Lance's rushed frantic apologies were smothered by salty kisses and fumbled thanks being pressed against his mouth.

When Keith found Lance's onesie, completely identical excluding the fact that Lance's was blue where Keith's was red, Keith pulled his lion-head hood over his eyes, but leaving his heart-wrenchingly cute smile exposed. Lance was sure that smile would probably send him to an early grave.

 

 

There was a large, prominent circle around their 143rd date in the calendar.

It's the day the question got asked after all. Lance decided he was permitted to be particularly fond of the day. Even if it hadn't gone according to plan at all. Keith had wandered into the kitchen to find him making breakfast in his boxers and an old baggy band tee, and apparently determined that he needed to wrap his arms around Lance's torso without warning, kissed the back of Lance's neck and murmured a sleepy good morning that made lance's heart melt. Honestly, Lance's favorite kind of morning, the kind that made him think about how he wanted this for the rest of his life and all that cheesy shit.

Lance had been trying to find the perfect moment to ask for fucking  _months_ , okay? So, when Keith had placed his head on lances shoulder and shoved a small dark blue velvet box in his face, he panicked for half a second. Then he started crying and  _Keith_  started panicking, until Lance spun around and kissed the ever-loving fuck out of him. He then proceeded to excitedly spin a happy dazed Keith around the kitchen, while calling him an Impulsive mullet bastard. Keith tried to wipe the tears from lances cheeks while Lance peppered Keith's face in kisses.

Once he'd stopped crying he darted into their room, and came back with the small red box he's been carrying around for  _weeks_ , affectionately scolding Keith because did he have  _any_ _idea how long L_ ance had been planning this? how much he'd planned to say? _Sit down fucker and prepare to get proposed to._

Breakfast had been turned to charcoal, so they had leftover cheesecake in bed. Keith thought the whole thing was fucking hilarious. Lance had to agree with him, especially when he was smiling like that.

 

 

Their 143rd date, Lance sat Keith down on their bed, and retrieved the calendar from the far reaches of the closet.

When Keith attempted (and failed) to cover his blush with his hands, his ring gleamed in the sunlight.

That was when Lance relented that the feeling he got in the movie theater all that time ago wasn't something that was ever going away, nor was he ever getting used to it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Pretty good for a fic i wrote at 4am eh? It was a damn pain to post though. like legitimately painful. It crashed at least three times.
> 
> Also if I ever add ANYTHING to this, it's gonna be a more in depth version of some of these dates but idk?
> 
> You can find me [here](http://thesadisticsiren.tumblr.com/) if you want.
> 
> Feedback me please!!!


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